NBC Soap 'Days of Our Lives' Posts Best Ratings Since 2011

June 06, 2013|Rick Kissell | Variety

NBC sudser "Days of Our Lives" continues to make its case as a show worth keeping around.

"Days," which earlier this year was renewed through September 2014, last week racked up its largest young-female audience in 18 months (645,000) and its largest overall audience in more than two years (2.83 million), according to Nielsen data for May 27-31.

The Sony Pictures Television soap was up sharply vs. the same week last year, including by 28% in women 18-49 (645,000 vs. 504,000), 34% in women 25-54 (824,000 vs. 616,000). It also averaged 278,000 additional viewers each night with its quickie repeats on cable network SoapNet.

Last week featured the birth of Gabi and Will's baby -- under arduous conditions, natch.

At this rate, it seems like another renewal extension for "Days" could be coming soon -- especially since 2015 would mark its 50th anniversary, something few television shows have achieved.

"Days" began as a half-hour soap on NBC in November 1965 and was expanded to an hour about 10 years later. Earlier this year, it celebrated its 12,000th episode.

For the second quarter to date, "Days of Our Lives" is up between 5% and 10% in all key ratings categories, according to Nielsen.

Another Sony sudser, CBS' "The Young and the Restless," was again the No. 1 daytime drama last week, averaging 4.65 million viewers, including 881,000 women 18-49.